After Voting to Ban Outdoor Dining, LA County Supervisor Dines Outdoors

After voting to ban outdoor dining, calling it “dangerous,” a Los Angeles County supervisor went and dined outdoors at her “favorite” restaurant.

During a debate last week over whether to ban outdoor dining, LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said, “Outdoor dining is probably more dangerous in terms of contagion than any other kind of business.”

“This is a serious health emergency and we must take it seriously. The servers are not protected from us, and they’re not protected from their other tables that they’re serving at that particular time, plus all the hours in which they’re working,” Keuhl added.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to ban outdoor dining, with Keuhl voting in the majority.

Shortly after making that statement, Keuhl visited an Italian restaurant called Il Forno Trattoria. The restaurant is close to her house, and Keuhl has previously called it one of her “favorites.”

Fox 11 Los Angeles originally reported this story.

In a statement about her visit, a spokesperson for Supervisor Keuhl said, “She did dine al fresco at Il Forno on the very last day it was permissible. She loves Il Forno, has been saddened to see it, like so many restaurants, suffer from a decline in revenue. She ate there, taking appropriate precautions, and sadly will not dine there again until our Public Health Orders permit.”

However, the question remains, if Supervisor Keuhl truly believed dining outdoors was “more dangerous… than any other kind of business,” why would she patronize a restaurant after voting to ban the practice?

It remains to be seen what evidence supports the idea that outdoor dining is not safe. Even though indoor dining has been linked to the spread of COVID-19, that same evidence does not exist for outdoor dining.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who opposed the decision to ban outdoor dining, told FOX 11 that this kind of double standard undermines the faith of the public in their government officials.

“If we can’t garner the trust of the public to be with us in this fight against the virus, then we’ve lost a big battle and I’m feeling that now nine months into this is we’re beginning to lose the trust of the public,” Hahn said.

This incident with Supervisor Keuhl is just the latest in a series of ironies coming from government officials who seem either unwilling or unable to abide by their own COVID-19 health edicts.

After Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom prohibited people from gathering in groups with more than three households, the governor visited a restaurant for a friend’s birthday party in a group of more than three households.

After California prohibited businesses from providing any indoor personal services, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited a hair salon for a blow-out.

And after Illinois shut down hair salons, Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot went out and got a haircut despite previously reminding the public that “getting your roots done is not essential.”

“I’m the public face of this city. I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye,” Lightfoot said defending her decision to get the haircut.

All these instances beg the question: How is the public supposed to trust government officials who seem to disregard the very thing they decree?

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Photo from FayesVision/WENN.com/REUTERS